SOURCE: Playyoo

January 23, 2008 09:15 ET

Playyoo Launches Community-Based Platform for Mobile Casual Games

Playyoo Brings Free Mobile Games to the Masses With User Generated Content and Social Interaction

LONDON--(Marketwire - January 23, 2008) - Playyoo™, a social networking platform for creating and sharing mobile casual games, today announced the official launch of its public beta site (www.playyoo.com and m.playyoo.com on mobile phones) -- giving mobile users easy access to free Adobe® Flash® Lite™ games. Playyoo is a global online community that offers a fun, social experience that brings together gamers and developers.

In addition to an enhanced discovery and download experience, Playyoo's innovative game creator tools let anyone have fun expressing themselves and publishing their own mobile game creations.

"Since we first unveiled our preview site in October, Playyoo has generated strong interest within the Flash Lite and gaming communities. We've had visitors from 82 countries on 162 mobile networks on our mobile site, and we are seeing an enthusiastic and growing community of early adopters on our web site, including several leading Flash Lite game developers," said Chris Pelly, CEO of Playyoo. "This response reflects the need to make mobile games easy to find, free to download, engaging to play, and fun to create. By providing a fun, social experience, Playyoo will encourage the widespread enjoyment of mobile games across a broader group of mobile users. You can be sure that this launch is just the beginning; we're going to be unveiling lots of great things in the future."

Playyoo features key innovations that address chief complaints with the current mobile gaming experience. With the platform's easy game discovery and download process, mobile phone users can effortlessly find games of interest. Playyoo's game stream presents personalized recommendations based on each user's preferences and those of their friends within the community. Intelligent filtering ensures that only games supported on a user's handset will be offered to alleviate the frustration of incompatibility issues.

Playyoo opens up the world of game design, enabling both novices and experienced developers to create and publish their own Flash Lite games. Based on a series of game types, Playyoo's game creator allows users to create their own games by uploading images and modifying game behavior, rules, and appearance.

"We are thrilled to see a social network and interactive worldwide community being created by Playyoo that focuses on mobile games and Adobe Flash Lite," said Bill Perry, evangelist, Mobile and Devices at Adobe. "With the excitement around Flash Lite 3 and the support for Flash Player compatible video we expect the community to thrive even more with creative ideas and innovation."

To help spark development of high quality games, Playyoo is sponsoring the Playyoo Game Contest. Open to all Flash Lite developers, the contest offers $25,000 USD in cash prizes. In line with Playyoo's community-driven philosophy, winning games will be determined by Playyoo members -- based on download statistics and community ratings at the end of the contest on February 28, 2008.

Playyoo is sponsoring an additional $15,000 USD in cash prizes for members of regional Flash Lite User Groups through the Flash Lite Game Contest. Complete details on the Playyoo Game Contest can be found at www.playyoo.com/contest, while UG members can learn more about the Flash Lite Game Contest at www.mobilecontest.org.

Approximately 200 games are currently available for free download, with more added each day. Everyone can join the Playyoo community and start experiencing the fun world of free mobile casual games by visiting the website at www.playyoo.com, or go directly to the mobile site at m.playyoo.com.

About Playyoo

Playyoo's mission is to build an enthusiastic worldwide community around the creation and play of mobile casual games. Today, only a small proportion of mobile phone users have discovered the fun of mobile casual games and even fewer have had the satisfaction of expressing themselves through this medium. Playyoo will offer a broad selection of easy-to-find, free games, created by members of its community, along with the fun experience of social interaction, all on a single platform. Playyoo will generate revenues by providing relevant advertising and other marketing messages to its profiled community. Playyoo is a privately held company based in London, England.

Playyoo is a trademark of Playyoo Limited. Adobe, Flash, and Flash Lite are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Other trade, product, or service names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.